Speed Workouts to destroy a 10K

First quarter done… United NYC Half done…. and now what? I did the Central Park Spring Classic 10K this past weekend and I am signed up to a “few” races…. but there’s 7 weeks til the Airbnb Brooklyn Half and I definitely will be racing my way into speed-shape. There’s two ways to get there. Either focusing on the half distance or the 10K distance. So, endurance or speed. Or: Quality vs Quantity. Given I spent most of the last 6 months building a base and not really working on speed, I am going to focus the next 6 weeks on the 10K/Speed/Quality option. And I am going to target the Newport 10K in May 6 -then I’ll have to weeks to recover for the Airbnb Brooklyn Half! Voila!

I did the Newport 10K last year (as well as the Newport Liberty Half) and it’s a great race to have fun but also to RACE. It’s flat, fast, a few turns, a fast field to pull you along and amazing views and a ridiculous spread after the race. Wide and uncluttered streets, some shade and seriously a view of the city that we don’t get here. Also has the small town race feel, but great great set up, water stops and organizers. Plus it’s just a few minutes away on the path; the train station is literally two blocks for the race start, so easy to get to. The race is May 6, (there’s NO NYRR race that weekend!), so perfect timing to race all out before the Brooklyn Half…. Check out the event website for more info.

Pictures from the Newport 10K or the Liberty Newport Half:

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So, I’ll be adjusting my training a bit. I’ll be doing my short speed workouts during the week, but instead of long runs in the weekend (I was doing up to 15 miles leading up to the half), those will turn into specific work, like tempos or long intervals.

These are the workouts I usually do, in a period of 10 days as it suits me better than the weekly planning.

6 X 1 MILE – THE KILLER BUILDUP BABY

Ideally, you’d start doing this one about 6 to 8 weeks out. It’s really hard. During regular training, when I do mile repeats, I usually get up to 4 and call it a day. They’re leg-makers! When you start, about 6-8 weeks out, you can take up to 5 minutes between reps, you want to make sure the legs can take each rep. You’ll see, as the weeks go by, that you’ll need less rest!!

2 X 2 MILE + 2 X 1 MILE – OH YEAH

This one you can do 4 or 3 weeks out, at goal pace again. It will also be super hard, just try to stick with 10K pace; there’s no need to go faster and make sure you take 3-4 minutes between reps.

3 X 2 MILES – ALMOST A TIME TRIAL

Of course you build up to this one over a few weeks, so you can be able to complete it a eek or two before the race, at race pace of course. This one is always the golden test. If you can hold race pace during this workout, you’re good to go. I am sure I’ll need a couple of weeks to get there.

Of course make sure you warm up throughly before, do some drills and loosen up. Oh, and I’ll be also adding a hill sprint workout every 10 days as well. Just for kicks. Well because they’re awesome!

I am excited!! What’s your next goal race??? Do you have a favorite 10K workout? Which one??